When testing communications or storage network equipment, it is desirable to accurately identify the causes of errors in the test system configuration and in the devices under test as soon as possible. For example, it may be desirable to identify connectivity errors between network test equipment and devices under test so that the connectivity errors can be corrected before data plane testing is performed. It may also be desirable to identify protocol conformance errors early in the testing process.
When initiating a network test, a user typically starts by defining the control plane, followed by defining the data plane, and then by starting the data plane tests. Defining the control plane includes specifying, via a user interface to the test system, the nodes involved in the testing, the connections between the nodes, and the protocols implemented by the nodes. Defining the data plane includes specifying the message traffic that will be communicated between nodes in the data plane tests. After the control plane is defined but prior to executing the data plane tests, there is an idle time period. The idle time period may last at least for the duration of time for the user to define the data plane traffic to be used in the data plane tests. It may be desirable to use this and/or other idle time periods to achieve some of the aforementioned goals.
Accordingly, there exists a need for improved methods, systems, and computer readable media for background testing of communications or storage network equipment.